Monday, August 20, 2007

Born and raised in Atlanta to a very large family, Brian began performing out about 13 years ago at Eddie's Attic in Decatur. After a sucessful stint in his southern home, he moved himself and his cute little dog up to Massachusetts, with no intention of a career in music. After awhile, he just couldn't help himself. He met many great local musicians in the Somerville and Cambridge area. Rachel McCartney was an early supporter of Brian's music. She and Brian performed all around the town winning hearts and fans. He began playing quite frequently at Club Passim and quickly became a club favorite. Brian realized that he needed an updated record to sell. He put together "The Evolving CD" that reached the hands of local college station WERS. The station played his song "Tobias" until he asked them to please stop and play another song from the CD, his friends were sick of that song about a crack head. Brian also took to playing in subway. A favorite spot was in the Davis Square T stop in Somerville, MA. Brian spread his music all over the commuters and they threw him change as they awaited their trains. Many folks thought the shabbily dress singer was homeless and was raising funds to help feed his scampy little dog. He soon learned that he could make just as much money busking in the subways as he did at his waiter gig, so he quit and became a full time performer. Since moving North, Brian has released one studio album ("Broken Folk") and a live record ("Live"). He has plans to record a new studio album and plays out every once in awhile with his band of the best local players in the Boston area, including Austin Nevins, currently touring with Josh Ritter. He will also do the occasional show in Atlanta and California. Brian currently lives in Warwick, RI, where he spends his time learning about polynomials, woodworking, playing PS2 and perfecting his banjo skills.

Venue: Loring Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.The Loring-Greenough House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been a historic house museum since 1926. Its beautiful period decor and intimate size make it an ideal setting for acoustic music.

Doors 7:30pm, concert @ 8:00pm.Ticket Price: $15.

Reservations: notlobmusic@gmail.com Reservations are recommended as 90% of all prior shows have sold out.

MBTA: Take #39 bus from either Back Bay Station or Forest Hills Station to the Monument stop, directly in front of the Loring-Greenough House, at the intersections of Centre and South Streets.

Parking is limited, the Loring Greenough House gates will be closed when its lot is full. There is a public lot behind Blanchard’s liquors, one block away.

Geoff will be interviewed by Brad Paul on WGBH radio this Saturday, approximately 4pm. 89.7.fm & streaming live athttp://www.wgbh.org/

Notlob Music presents the best local and touring roots, Americana, newgrass, traditional and contemporary folk artists in unique and unusual settings in the Boston, MA area. The sixth concert of the Spring/Summer 2007 series will be an acoustic evening with folk legend GEOFF BARTLEY, with ELIZA BLUE opening, at the historic Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130, http://www.lghouse.org/. Built in 1760, it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been a historic house museum since 1926. Its beautiful period decor and intimate size make it an ideal setting for acoustic music.

Geoff Bartley is a prize-winning acoustic guitarist & a nationally respected singer-songwriter. His songs are grounded in traditional folk music, roots blues, & jazz, and have been performed & recorded by other artists in the U.S., Canada, & Ireland. Since his first professional gig in 1969, Mr. Bartley has played in over thirty states & Canada, and has released four CDs. He lives in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts.An exciting & natural performer with plenty of personality,

Mr. Bartley is known for his elegant blues-influenced guitar style and the archetypal imagery in his writing. His songs address the human longing for meaning in life, and are told by average people living in a mysterious world. Running through his material are veins of social consciousness and a recurrent fascination with the "inner terrain". By bringing startling images from the natural world coupled with street-level observations of the human condition to the heart of his message, Mr. Bartley reveals a love for the mystical in everyday life. His songs are ultimately uplifting and full of promise.Mr. Bartley brings a liberal sprinkling of humor and offbeat between-song patter to his live shows. Audiences are treated to a rich landscape of musical & spoken word styles highlighted with authentic traditional blues. He boasts a handsome blues-soaked baritone and is a hot harmonica player, slide guitarist & flatpicker.

Since 1994, he has been folk veteran Tom Paxton’s guitarist & harmony vocalist for concert and festival dates in the northeast and elsewhere.Awards that Mr. Bartley has won include numerous Boston Music Award nominations, Second Prize four years in a row at the National Fingerpicking Championships in Winfield, Kansas, and First Prize two years in a row at the New Hampshire Guitar & Fiddle Contest. In 1998, the Billboard Magazine Song Contest awarded him Third Prize in Performance for his driving blues/jazz guitar instrumental, Blues Beneath the Surface. Mr. Bartley is also an active studio musician & producer. He has written and performed music for film, television, radio, & theatre, and has made internationally distributed commercial recordings for the Sonoton record label in Munich, Germany.

Eliza Blue crafts folk ballads of surprising tenderness with enough raw edges to reveal a diamond that’s still rough. Fans of both American roots music and adult contemporary will find much to enjoy; Eliza Blue's simple, meditative songwriting pays homage to folk traditions, at the same time creating something entirely modern. Trained as a classical violinist, Eliza grew up listening to Mozart and the Beatles on her fisher price record player. She took up the fiddle after falling in love with folk music, and has been recording and performing ever since. Currently, Eliza often performs with partner Paul Miksic. Both multi-instrumentalists, they trade between banjos and guitars, with some fiddle, mandolin, and washboard thrown in for good measure. A rambler from birth, Eliza has crossed the country several times since she began her songwriting career three years ago, and she averages over a 150 gigs a year. When she's not on the road, Eliza lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her two dogs, Micah and Lily.

The show took place under the auspices of the Notlob Acoustic Music Series at the Loring-Greenough House in Jamaica Plain. I've scarcely ever had so much fun in an acoustic setting like this one. First, it was an intimate room in a Colonial Era mansion. Second, the round robin format was conducive to workshop-style collaboration and spontaneous singalongs. Third, all 6 of the musicians were in tune to their muse, to the audience, and with one another, a really exceptionalgood vibe in the room. And fourth and foremost, the evening showcased wonderful performances of Dave Carter songs, both well-known classics and lesser-known gems.

"Cat-Eye Willie Claims His Lover" (Ryan Fitzsimmons, lead vocal and guitar; Dana Price, second lead vocal, fiddle, and vocal harmony. This brought down the house. Ryan & Dana worked magic with this difficult yet captivating story-song)

"I Go Like the Raven" (Dana Price, lead vocal and fiddle; Eric McDonald, guitar; Ryan Fitzsimmons, vocalharmony. Dana was a portrait of perfection on both the difficult lead vocal and the difficult fiddle part)

"Any Way I Do" (Beth DeSombre, lead vocal and guitar; Eric McDonald, mandolin; general singalong)

"Little Liza Jane" (Eric McDonald, lead vocal and guitar; Ryan Fitzsimmons, second guitar; Dana Price, fiddle. This was another one that brought down the house. Eric was just smoking on this rampaging narrative about a runaway truck on a mountain road)

"Crocodile Man" (Ryan Fitzsimmons leading the whole ensemble, with some of them taking turns on instrumental solos)

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